Frank Angelo Joseph "Creepy" Crespi (February 16, 1918 – March 1, 1990) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player who played

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

from - for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. He made his major league debut on 14 September 1938 playing

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

for the Cardinals. In 1951, longtime Cardinals star shortstop

Marty Marion Martin Whiteford "Mr. Shortstop" Marion (December 1, 1917 – March 15, 2011) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop and manager (baseball), manager. Marion played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns between 1940 and 195 ...

praised Crespi as the best defensive second baseman he'd ever played with. "For one year—1941—Crespi was the best second baseman I ever saw. He did everything, and sensationally." Frank Crespi's nickname, 'Creepy', is widely considered one of the more colorful and unusual names in baseball history. In a 1976 radio interview with future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

broadcaster

Jack Buck John Francis Buck (August 21, 1924 – June 18, 2002) was an American sportscaster, best known for his work announcing Major League Baseball games of the St. Louis Cardinals. His play-by-play work earned him recognition (or induction in some ca ...

, Crespi told Buck people still called him by his nickname. Buck followed up with, "Why do they call you that?" Crespi replied, "Well, it's an involved thing...I used to hear a lot of different stories. But I think the best one is

rom Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

some sportswriter. He said the way I creep up on a ball, because I run low to the ground after a ground ball." Although Crespi lost the starting second base job for the Cardinals in 1942 to Jimmy Brown, he still appeared in 93 games that season. The Cardinals won the National League pennant and played the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in the

1942 World Series The 1942 World Series featured the defending champion 1942 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees against the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals season, St. Louis Cardinals, with the Cardinals winning in five games for their first championship since a ...

. Crespi played in one game in the World Series, serving as a pinch runner in game 1, and scoring a run. The Cardinals won the series, four games to one.1942 World Series on Baseball-Referenc

/ref>

World War II

Crespi was conscription, drafted into the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

in early 1943. Though he qualified for a deferment as the sole supporter of his elderly mother, he refused, claiming, "I don't think I'm too good to fight for the things I've always enjoyed." During an Army baseball game in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, he suffered a

compound fracture An open fracture, also called a compound fracture, is a type of bone fracture (broken bone) that has an open wound in the skin near the fractured bone. The skin wound is usually caused by the bone breaking through the surface of the skin. An open fr ...

of his left leg while turning a

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

. Soon afterwards, he broke the same leg during a training accident, and later he broke it a third time during an impromptu

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

race while in the hospital. While he was recuperating at the hospital, a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

accidentally applied 100 times the appropriate quantity of

boric acid Boric acid, more specifically orthoboric acid, is a compound of boron, oxygen, and hydrogen with formula . It may also be called hydrogen orthoborate, trihydroxidoboron or boracic acid. It is usually encountered as colorless crystals or a white ...

to his bandages, causing severe burns on Crespi's leg and leaving him with a permanent limp. According to Marty Marion, a total of 23 operations were performed on Crespi's leg.

After the war

In an attempt to qualify for the major league

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

plan, Crespi applied various times as

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. Unable to obtain the position, he became a

budget A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...

analyst for

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own ...

, where he worked for 20 years. After his

retire Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

ment from McDonnell Douglas, Crespi discovered that he had not been retired from baseball, but rather had been on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

, when the major league had first implemented its pension plan during the 1940s. This discovery entitled Crespi to his major league pension. Crespi died of a heart attack on March 1, 1990 in

Florissant, Missouri Florissant () is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, Missouri, within Greater St. Louis. It is a middle-class, second-ring northern suburb of St. Louis. Based on the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population ...

References

External links

Creepy Crespi
at

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

(Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Crespi, Frank 1918 births 1990 deaths Major League Baseball infielders Baseball players from St. Louis St. Louis Cardinals players United States Army personnel of World War II Burials at Calvary Cemetery (St. Louis) Columbus Red Birds players Rochester Red Wings players Shelby Cardinals players Springfield Cardinals players